Killings: NHRC seeks relocation of Unity Schools’ students

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has suggested a temporary relocation of pupils of the eight Unity Schools in the three troubled Northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe to other schools outside the region.

The commission’s position is informed by incessant killings of school children in the states by the Boko Haram sect, particularly the reported killing, on Monday, of 29 pupils at the Federal Government College, (FGC) Buni-Yadi.

In statement on Wednesday, the, NHRC’s Chairman, Chidi Odinkalu, described the development as alarming and saddening. He urged both political and religious leaders in the region to speak up and take actions to discourage violence in the area.

Odinkalu urged the government to implement existing reports on how to ensure peace in the region.

“There is no way to minimize the shock and tragedy of these events. The perpetrators clearly do not wish Nigeria well. Words are not enough to condemn them and their conduct. To the parents of the affected children, words are equally insufficient comfort or condolence. This is every parent’s worst nightmare. Condolences are also due to the Government and People of Yobe State and to the Federal Government.

“Education is a basic right guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“These children were pursuing this right when they were killed. The pursuit of education cannot be cause for the mass murder of innocent children.”